Public forum to discuss New York’s Chesapeake Bay pollution diet plan

Madison County is at the headwaters of The Susquehanna River Watershed which eventually drains to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The Total Maximum Daily Load is essentially the projected nutrient load that the Chesapeake Bay can receive from numerous nutrient sources and still attain water quality standards for dissolved oxygen and clarity. Those nutrient sources are broken up into five main source sectors: agriculture, waste water, urban, forest and septic. Each of these source sectors are assigned target nutrient reduction goals in the federally mandated TMDL to meet by 2025.

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts that make up the Upper Susquehanna Coalition, along with other partners are leading the development of New York’s 2025 Watershed Implementation Plan for its contribution to the Chesapeake Bay. This document specifically outlines how New York agriculture plans to meet the nutrient reduction goal targets. While the Chesapeake Bay relies heavily on the agricultural community for a large portion of the nutrient load reductions for New York, everyone has a role to play in the Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts.

The Upper Susquehanna Coalition is hosting a public event from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, 2019, at the Hamilton Public Library, 13 Broad St., Hamilton, where DEC staff will provide an overview of what the plan means and how it effects decision-making for local communities, as well as a time for farmers and stakeholders to provide feedback and ask questions.

RSVP to the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation
District at (315) 824-9849. Ext. 5.